RECAP: Hawks 89, Heat 95

The Hawks trailed by 9 points midway through the 4th quarter, but a run fueled by Jeff Teague and Al Horford put the Hawks in position to win the game. However, a few questionable calls and some shaky defense led to a LeBron James dagger with 13 seconds to go, sealing a Heat win.

Reaction Grades:[assessed 0-10]

Al Horford: He attempted only 9 shots and didn’t even shoot a free throw, although he did have some nice high-low action with Josh Smith. The offense needs to start running through him more than it runs through Smith, though. It’s just that simple. And that’s on Larry Drew. 6/10

Josh Smith: It was a disaster night for Smith, who went 6-19 from the field and 1-5 from the line. Even when he wasn’t shooting jumpers (which he of course did his fair share of), he was struggling to make anything around the hoop. His frustration was visible by the end of the game, but it was just an all-around off night for J-Smoove. 3/10

Zaza Pachulia: Zaza was effectively neutralized on the boards, pulling down only 4 rebounds in his limited 14 minutes of action. He seemed to be overmatched defensively and never found his niche in the game. He was called for a technical early in the 4th and didn’t receive any grace from the zebras after that. 2/10

Anthony Morrow: Coach Drew has seemed reluctant to play him so far this season, but he shouldn’t feel that way after tonight. Morrow was unconscious from all over the floor, and if it wasn’t for him and Teague, the Hawks probably would have lost by 30. 8/10

Jeff Teague: Teague played a nearly flawless game, scoring 20 points on 7-8 shooting and racking up 11 assists as he picked Miami’s transition defense apart. It’s too bad he had to ruin his perfect 7-7 night from the field with a pointless runner as time expired. Does it matter, though? He was fantastic. 10/10

Lou Williams: He was pretty terrible all game long, which is too bad because we really could have used his scoring tonight. “4th Q Lou” never showed up, but neither did 1st, 2nd, or 3rd Q Lou. He went more or less unnoticed all 19 minutes he was in the game. 1/10

Ivan Johnson: He played 5 minutes and had 2 points… at least he did something in those 5 minutes, right? 4/10

Kyle Korver: It was hilarious watching him try to keep up with Ray Allen through all of Miami’s screens in the first half, but he managed to contribute a pretty solid game on the offensive end of things, scoring 11 points on 3-7 shooting from downtown. 6/10

Anthony Tolliver: Let me just say that he wasn’t as bad as he usually is, but he was still pretty terrible. Then again, it doesn’t help when you draw LeBron on a switch and your name is Anthony Tolliver. Well, at least he made a 3-pointer, right? I guess. 3/10

Devin Harris: I’ll just repeat what Bo said in the last recap: played like a guard-version of Anthony Tolliver. 1/10

DeShawn Stevenson: He played relatively tough defense on LeBron through most of the night, but when the MVP is hitting 18-foot contested turnarounds with his back to the basket, there’s really nothing you can do. He was putrid offensively, but that’s to be expected. 5/10

Larry Drew: Given Miami’s lineup, it was a no-brainer to start Stevenson, but I continue to be baffled by the way Drew handles his line-ups in game. He insisted on allowing Devin Harris to run the team into the ground in the second half, which of course led to his defense being exposed by every player on the court that had 2 legs and knew what a basketball was. Letting Teague shoulder some more minutes (he only played 27 amazing minutes) or giving Lou the ball with Morrow or Korver on the wing would have been much better than watching Harris blow up everything that was good and right with this offense and defense. Hopefully Harris starts playing better, but if he doesn’t, hopefully Drew doesn’t turn this into another Jannero Pargo thing. 4/10

The opposition: The Heat were without Dwyane Wade, but the champs are still frighteningly good. The Hawks played well tonight, but LeBron, Chirs Bosh, and Ray Allen were just too much for Atlanta’s defense. With Wade, I don’t think it would have been this close, especially considering that this team has no one who can effectively guard the 2 position. The Hawks went zone for a little late in the 3rd quarter, but LeBron was able to pick it apart as he found (gulp) Rashard Lewis on a few possessions. Oh, and what was that about LeBron never making the big shot? He certainly made a few big ones tonight. 7/10